Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) - TBS [P3] - 3.75 Inch Figures (Exclusive)

Before he put on the familiar Mandalorian armor from the Star Wars saga, this notorious bounty hunter was initially envisioned as a "Super Trooper" in all white armor.

Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) was first offered as a convoluted mail-away figure during the peak of The Vintage Collection. It was convoluted because although Hasbro made the "redemption form" available online, they printed the wrong information on it which confused the collecting community. They originally printed on the form that the UPCs from any five (5) Star Wars action figures (from any collection) would qualify for the offer. But then they quickly took that back (realizing their mistake including any Star Wars figures in the offer) and updated the "redemption form" to state that only qualifying assortments of figures UPCs were eligible. Ultimately they included both The Vintage Collection assortment, The Clone Wars assortment and the Saga Legends assortment. What panicked collectors however is that a whole slew of collectors had already sent in their offers for the mail-away Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) (VC61) figure. Thankfully, Hasbro was a little generous and decided to be forgiving about the misinformation regarding the offer and it seemed that everyone who sent off for Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) (VC61) eventually got him. Now Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) enters the line, also as an exclusive, but hopefully with a little more widespread availability. He is now part of one of the last waves of Walmart exclusive The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75” figures.

Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) is a unique version of Boba Fett that fans have wanted for a very long time. The figure is a lot of fun and has been approached relatively faithfully to the actual prototype seen in that 20 minute video from June 28, 1978. Sadly the figure isn’t 100% accurate and there are plenty of missed details will undoubtedly irritate some of the more decisive collectors out there. If you didn’t know any better, you’d probably confuse this with the McQuarrie concept version of Boba Fett because of the whiteness. But upon closer inspection you’ll quickly come to the realization of how closely it resembles the final armor seen in The Empire Strikes Back which is pretty much just an unpainted all-white version of it (with a beach towel). Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) is of course a kit-bashed figure that is 99.9% created by utilizing 2004’s VOTC Boba Fett figure, but it is also slightly different from The Vintage Collection version. Hasbro also used the holster/belt combination from 2007’s TAC Animated Debut: Boba Fett (30 24) figure as well to complete the look for this new figure and make it as unique as possible while keeping costs down at the same time. Hasbro however made a few mistakes. If you check the stills of the prototype armor, you’ll notice that his jetpack missile has “wings” on it. Hasbro obviously just used the available/previously existing jetpack and didn’t retool it to include this detail. The weaponry is replicated beautifully however, but the prototype costume doesn’t have any functioning holsters added.

The guns that come with the action figure look exactly like the weapons Boba Fett is holding in his hands (or hanging from his outfit) from the stills we have come across and we have to admit we’re thoroughly impressed with this attention to detail Hasbro included here. The infamous Star Wars beach towel that George Lucas and company used for the prototype armor isn’t included here. Some fans wanted to see this detail replicated, but we’re happy with what Hasbro has decided to include instead. The included cape only has a few blue stars on it, but it definitely looks cool! Hey, at least Sideshow Collectibles added the beach towel to their own take on Boba Fett (Prototype Armor) in their 1:6 Scale Figure collection. The 2004 VOTC version of Boba Fett will go down in history as one of the best Boba Fett figures of all time. And as evidenced by Hasbro’s consistent reuse of the mold we can gather that they are quite proud of it themselves. It thankfully doesn’t have a removable helmet (something that old-timers loathe) and it’s loaded with 15 areas of articulation and can be situated infinitely for your posing needs. (The 15th extra point of articulation is the movable rangefinder.) We suppose it is cool to see this figure again, but it certainly wasn’t requested by many collectors that we know. We do hope however it’s a success for the line and Hasbro. Perhaps it might have been better to hold off on releasing these figure until Spring of 2018. That is when the flurry of interest will transpire.